You can use Quotetracker streaming and server APIs for ameritrade. Since their acquisition by Ameritrade, it appears they have developed high-level APIs for Ameritrade that does not call for socket-level programming knowledge. You can e-mail them.
I would like to say good job for last year, but when i did the math for your first two trades (POT & SPY and not calculating the options that you bought which was minimal anyway) and figured what you would've made if you had just bought and held all year, you kind of left alot of money on the table. You closed the year with 502k, but if you had just bought and held, you would've closed the year with about 660k or so (I didnt factor in margin costs in that figure, but assuming 12% per year on 500k of margin and you still come up cashing out end of year with an extra 100k in your pocket. You made a 57% return for the year and you used what...3 to 1 margin? 4 to 1 margin? The Dow is up 26% from when you started trading on Jan 15 2009. At that rate of margin, you should've been up at least 75% to stay even with the market. Not saying you did bad though, but just dont pat yourself on the back too much or let others pat you on the back until you are outperforming the market in real terms. It can throw you off if you see you made a huge return in % numbers and dont factor in margin to that play. A trader that makes 25% returns on a cash account is a better trader than one that makes 75% returns on a 4 to 1 margin account. Dont get "Fooled by Randomness" Good luck next year. If you do take 400k to 4 million by year end this year, you will know you are a good trader (as long as the dow doesnt go to 35,000 by year end, then you would still just be trading alongside the market at 4 to 1 leverage)
Well done Neke for taking the mantle on again. What do you think you are going to be doing different this that you were doing last year ? I am interested in this. And what are you going to keep that works. Good Trading mate for 2010 All the Best john
I think you missed the point. I wasnt stating what he "should've done" I was stating that a 57% return for this year is not that great. To compare, I had a 187% return for 2009 and to me that wasnt that good for such a volitile year, but maybe Im just a hard critic on myself